Q: Why do you believe The Global Report on Women in the News Media is needed?
AJ: The project is definitely needed because there is hardly any information about women in the news media in countries like India and regions like South Asia. What currently exists is largely anecdotal information based on interviews with women journalists – as, for example, in my own book, Making News: Women in Journalism, and a subsequent survey done by the Press Institute of India for the National Commission for Women.
There is little doubt that there are far more women in the news media in this part of the world these days, certainly in India and especially in metropolitan cities. They are particularly visible on television, but female bylines are also very common and prominent in the print media. More women can be seen at all kinds of press conferences, on the campaign trail during elections, in places struck by disaster or conflict, on the sports field, in corporate offices and stock exchanges. All that creates a general impression that women have arrived, are doing well and are likely to stay and succeed in the news media. We really know little about the terms of their employment, about the gender-related policies (if any) of media houses or the various other significant details that the IWMF study is seeking. We know even less about the situation of women across the broad spectrum of the news media – metro-based and otherwise, in English and other Indian languages, in the state and private sectors, in print and electronic media, etc.
I think it is important to compare or contrast existing anecdotal evidence and surface impressions with data gathered directly from media houses through an objective, methodologically sound survey looking into various aspects of the situation of both men and women in the profession and analyzed/interpreted in an academically acceptable manner. I believe that kind of credible information is what the IWMF study is likely to provide.
Q: What impact do you think this project will have?
AJ: One can't be sure about impact in terms of action taken within media houses. But in case the study reveals and identifies certain problem areas, data-based advocacy is more likely to work than anything else. Media houses tend to see themselves as progressive and are increasingly sensitive to public opinion at least in terms of image. So if there is evidence that there are some skeletons in their cupboards, they may be inclined to do some spring cleaning. So I would say that the project may well have some positive impact. Conversely, without the kind of data likely to emerge from the project, media houses would have less incentive to take corrective action.
Q: What prepared you to oversee the research for your area of the world?
AJ: Well, the subject of the research has been part of my "beat" for some time. As a journalist, I've been involved over the years in several gender- and media-related activities, initially focusing primarily on media content. I've been part of women and media groups since the 1980s. I began work on Making News in the late 1990s, interviewing women journalists in different parts of India, working in different sections of the media, different languages, etc., and learning a lot about the divergent experiences of women working in the media. The book went on to catalyze discussions among women journalists across the country that led to the formation of the Network of Women in Media, India, in 2002. And interactions within the network over the past seven years – online, at our annual meetings, etc. – have continued to yield insights about the situation of women in the profession.
I have also been in touch with women journalists as well as gender and media scholars and activists in other parts of South Asia and the world for several years. So involvement in the IWMF study is really an extension of work I've been doing for quite a while.